Showing results by author "A.J Smith" in All Categories

Isla Walsh is a prankster, and her favorite person to pull one over on has to be her principal, Andry Murphey. But Isla isn't all fun and games, and her sixth-grade students will attest to that. Behind every prank Isla plays hides a secret she hasn't shared since she moved to Cheyenne. She's not the happy person she seems to be. In fact, she's pretty certain everyone will leave her.

"Why are you following me?" She eyes me suspiciously, like she doesn't trust someone wanting to say hello. "I want to know your name. Mate." There, I said it, maybe that'll ease her mind. "What? No, not possible." What. The. Hell. With her father dead, her mother gone, and her back having seemingly abandoned her, all Aurelia wanted was to work her way into a better life. Earn her place in the world by her own hand. Not being one for the spotlight or a seeker of attention, Aurelia keeps to herself. Being invisible has its perks. One of those being that she was left to her own devices, to ...

For Cassie and her Circle of witches, it's hard to imagine life in New Salem getting any worse. A band of powerful witch hunters is targeting the group, determined to destroy them one by one. And Cassie's half-sister, Scarlett, won't rest until she has a spot in the Circle - even if she has to kill Cassie to get it. The Circle's only hope against their enemies is Cassie's father's Book of Shadows - an ancient guide to the world of dark magic. But Cassie soon discovers that opening the book has grave consequences.

Coming out in a rural Kansas town was never something Jewel thought she'd do, especially as the newly-minted music teacher. She finds adversity everywhere she looks, except one. Her best friend, Lea, has always been the supportive backbone she's needed. When her boyfriend breaks up with her, Jewel needs Lea more than ever.

Our emotions are complex. Some of us seem able to ignore our feelings, while others feel controlled by them. But most of us would admit that we don’t always know what to do with how we feel. The Bible teaches us that our emotions are an indispensable part of what makes us human―and play a crucial role in our relationships with God and others. Exploring how God designed emotions for our good, this book shows us how to properly engage with our emotions.

Kaitlyn Fairchild's prophetic drawings frighten her, but she is offered a scholarship to the Zetes Institute with four other psychically gifted students that seems like a new beginning - until they discover an experiment that can destroy them all.

Daily Strength, a year-long devotional, walks Christian men through Scripture passages that speak to their most pressing issues. Featuring content from the ESV Men's Devotional Bible, each daily devotion features a short summary of a Bible passage with a thought-provoking message from from one of more than forty contributors. Arranged canonically from Genesis to Revelation with short introductions to each Bible book, Daily Strength encourages and enlightens men throughout the year while equipping them for moral and spiritual transformation.

The last thing on Esther Dunja's mind is falling in love. Her goal is to keep her head down and slide through the next twelve years until her son graduates. After being run out of the last school she taught at by her ex, Esther needs to make this new teaching job work. It's her last chance to retain custody. The problem is she never anticipated falling for her son's kindergarten teacher.

In this crime mystery, when Police Officer Danny Garcia and his partner get a call for a disturbance of the peace, they have no idea of the surprise in store for them. Danny has been angling for a police detective job, and something about this arrest stinks - and not just the alcohol on the alleged criminals’ breath. While off duty, Danny is hit with another stumper. A fellow parishioner approaches him at church, hoping for some help with a sensitive problem. As Danny takes action to unravel the mystery, he becomes convinced that a priest at his church is not what he claims to be.

Five Views on the Gospel presents five different perspectives on the question "What is the gospel?" Presenting a variety of contemporary and tradition-based perspectives, each contributor answers key questions about the nature of the gospel.

Seduced by the Secret Circle, a coven of young witches whose power has controlled New Salem for 300 years, Cassie falls hopelessly in love with the leader's boyfriend and falls prey to dark powers.

Set during the Civil War, against a backdrop of grand estates, unimaginable riches, and deadly secrets, three teenagers in Mystic Falls, Virginia, enter a torrid love triangle that will span eternity. Brothers Stefan and Damon Salvatore are inseparable, until they meet Katherine, a stunning, mysterious woman who turns their world upside down. Siblings turned rivals, the Salvatores compete for Katherine's affection....

Richard M. Weaver argues that the decline of Western civilization resulted from the rising acceptance of relativism over absolute reality. In spite of increased knowledge, this retreat from the realist intellectual tradition has weakened the Western capacity to reason, with catastrophic consequences for social order and individual rights. But Weaver also offers a realistic remedy. These difficulties are the product not of necessity, but of intelligent choice.

This book is a manual for becoming the kind of man God intends for you to be, and leading other men to do the same. Taking ten qualities from the Apostle Paul's short letter to his mentee Titus, The Titus Ten will help you grow in your understanding of the gospel, your identity, your character, your doctrine, and more. Each chapter includes questions for reflection and discussion, to both process the way the Lord is growing you, and read in a group with other men. As you grow in these areas of your life, you'll become the kind of man God desires to use in the world.

Boxed set of four #1 bestselling Watson Files mystery novels, starring the legendary sleuth of Victorian London, Sherlock Holmes, including: Sherlock Holmes and the Missing Shakespeare (#1) Sherlock Holmes, legendary sleuth of Victorian London, is asked to authenticate the work of what appears to be a long lost Shakespearean play. Alas, just as the famed detective is about to announce his conclusion, the manuscript is stolen―and the chase is on to locate and recover it. As Sherlock Holmes and his trusted sidekick, Dr. John Watson, begin to unravel the mystery of the missing play, their ...

I hadn't touched her yet. Part of that control thing. Keeping control of myself, letting her choose what she wanted to do, that was my plan. I wanted her to touch me, hell, I wanted her to jump in my arms. I wanted to kiss her and make it better. That was my dream at least. I didn't do anything though. I just sat there with my head down, waiting for her to respond. "What do you mean exactly, by you'll do anything to earn my forgiveness?" "Whatever you want it to mean." I meant that too, if she wanted me to walk buck naked over hot coals and then roll around in them I would. This whole thing...

Jack Gee, hiking the New Zealand mountains, is blissfully unaware of the Hemorrhage virus sweeping the world. A desperate message from his wife, Dee, alerts him, and he must return to Hamilton. On the way, he is captured by flesh-eating Variants and taken to their meat locker. To escape, he will need to draw on all his experience as an outdoorsman, but first, he must find the will to survive. Surrounded by Variants, Dee is trapped in her Hamilton basement with a group of survivors. With Jack missing, and dwindling food supplies, she must leave the basement, her only defense a katana.

Crucibles: History's Most Formidable Rites of Passage explores fourteen elite organizations, with a special emphasis on the onerous trials designed to cull initiates from aspirants. It analyzes the underlying commonalities of such trials, describing how they work, why people are willing to subject themselves to such rigors, and how such tests benefit or harm the organizations that require them.

Join the last vestiges of Humanity and their alien allies (the reptilian Thrynn, the insectoid Velox, and the plant-based Elowan) as they attempt to carve out their own territory in a sector of space filled with wondrous opportunity and deadly threats. Brave explorers seek out new worlds to colonize while merchants cruise from starport to starport, their holds laden with exotic goods. Not all in this futuristic setting have noble intent. For every prospector and trader attempting to make a difference, a dozen pirates, smugglers, and mobsters engage in all manner of criminal enterprise.

On a snowy Christmas Day in 1929, Charles Davis Lawson, a respected tobacco farmer in rural North Carolina, murdered everyone in his family except one son. He left the world to consider the reason behind his extremely surprising and brutal act. Since that time, a huge and lonely mass grave has existed quietly in a small family cemetery deep in the North Carolina woods, and it has left generations of people wondering why.